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Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct #486360 10/02/09 05:42 PM 10/02/09 05:42 PM
Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA D_C OP pro stock
D_C OP pro stock Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA	Working underneath my Jeep, I leaned against a shock-absorber and it moved laterally. When I looked up, the Eye Bushing was completely gone, none of it was remaining, just the bare bolt. The shock was still Ok, so I bought replacement eye bushings. I never knew when they failed, that they basically crumble. The remaining bushings were cracked and dropped out easily in pieces as well. Not a comforting thought. I am replacing all the shock bushings now.

Re: Never Knew, old Urathane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: D_C] #486361 10/02/09 06:16 PM 10/02/09 06:16 PM
Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 7,194 Harrisburg, Pa. screamindriver master
screamindriver master Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 7,194 Harrisburg, Pa.	Urethane does wear out regardless of how much hype they get...I got about 50 thousand miles out of one set{energy suspension} and they were shot...Some spit and fall apart, some get soft and let the component wander...

Re: Never Knew, old Urathane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: D_C] #486362 10/02/09 06:45 PM 10/02/09 06:45 PM
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia J jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds.. J Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia	I have been big on the urethane ride for a number of years. I at work have used a lot of urethane casters. And strangely enough on a number of occasions, we will come into the shop and roll a piece of equipment that is maybe 8? years old, and within 10 mins all four caster urethane treads will crumble and fall off. Hard to explain how all four will destruct almost at the same time without warning. Urethane might a great idea, but seems to have a very limited and abrupt lifespan. Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: jcc] #486363 10/03/09 01:13 PM 10/03/09 01:13 PM
Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA D_C OP pro stock
D_C OP pro stock Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA	Yes, it was a surprise to me. Of course, standard rubber bushings also deteriorate, but usually not all at once like the urethane did. Now I'm wondering about the Urethane Motor, Transmission mounts and particularly the Lower-Control Arm Bushings on my Charger.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: D_C] #486364 10/03/09 02:20 PM 10/03/09 02:20 PM
Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 757 Toronto, Ont, Canada boydsdodge super stock
boydsdodge super stock Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 757 Toronto, Ont, Canada	My Swingers lower control arm bushings came apart and worked there way out, I had about 8500 miles on them. Mostly city. I discovered it after noticing the car wasn't steering like it should, went with new rubber and it feels great. I wont be using urethane bushings on lowers anymore and I keep a close watch on any others I use.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: boydsdodge] #486365 10/03/09 02:31 PM 10/03/09 02:31 PM
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia J jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds.. J Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia	Quote: I wont be using urethane bushings on lowers anymore and I keep a close watch on any others I use. I had the same concern, so I went with the "Delrin" style (HP Nylon?) in the LCA, so far OK. Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: jcc] #486366 10/03/09 02:39 PM 10/03/09 02:39 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	Urethane (like pretty much any other rubber or petroleum based flexible material) is subject to degradation from environmental conditions, UV exposure being the most problematic for Urethane. Urethane is quite resistant to "cyclical mechanical wear" which is why it works so well in suspension applications, but with exposure to air & light it will eventually degrade and fail. BTW, black Urethane is the most resistant to UV breakdown as compared to any other color.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #486367 10/03/09 02:47 PM 10/03/09 02:47 PM
Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA D_C OP pro stock
D_C OP pro stock Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,373 Rancho Cucamonga, CA	Good to know. The bushings in the shocks were "Red" and I replaced them with "Black" urethane. The LCA Bushings in the Charger are "Black." Except for this "disintegration" issue, I was otherwise happy with the bushings, mounts, etc.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #486368 10/03/09 04:42 PM 10/03/09 04:42 PM
Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 10,198 Someplace you aren't S SomeCarGuy I Live Here
SomeCarGuy I Live Here S Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 10,198 Someplace you aren't	Quote: Urethane (like pretty much any other rubber or petroleum based flexible material) is subject to degradation from environmental conditions, UV exposure being the most problematic for Urethane. Urethane is quite resistant to "cyclical mechanical wear" which is why it works so well in suspension applications, but with exposure to air & light it will eventually degrade and fail. BTW, black Urethane is the most resistant to UV breakdown as compared to any other color. I get how the UV damages the parts, but how does a LCA bushing get much light on it? I want my fair share

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: SomeCarGuy] #486369 10/03/09 10:08 PM 10/03/09 10:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	Quote: I get how the UV damages the parts, but how does a LCA bushing get much light on it? It's not just the light, it's just that UV is the hardest on it.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #486370 10/03/09 11:28 PM 10/03/09 11:28 PM
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia J jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
jcc If you can't dazzle em with diamonds.. J Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 22,695 Bitopia	Quote: Quote: I get how the UV damages the parts, but how does a LCA bushing get much light on it? It's not just the light, it's just that UV is the hardest on it. Maybe we have stumbled on a giant undercover urethane conspiracy . In my case I could never pinpoint a cause for urethane caster failures, some wheels were never in daylight, nor wet, some just sitting on shelf never even being rolled, some not bothered were near welder, with stray UV and Ozone exposure, oddest thing to me was how they all died at same time, kinda like how fire ants all bite at the same time. Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #486371 10/04/09 12:59 AM 10/04/09 12:59 AM
Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 597 Lost in the 70's 440gtx6 mopar
440gtx6 mopar Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 597 Lost in the 70's	Quote: Quote: I get how the UV damages the parts, but how does a LCA bushing get much light on it? It's not just the light, it's just that UV is the hardest on it. It apparently has more to do with age or possibly components in the air because I put new bushings on a 4x4 show truck (wearing a whole pile of shocks and stabilizers, etc). After about 10 years of mostly sitting parked in a garage out of sunlight and with maybe 100 miles on them they all completed distintegrated and fell out on the floor. 69 EF8 GTX 440 auto 72 EB5 RR/GTX 440 auto 70 EW1 GTX 440-6 4 spd 70 EF8 Satellite 318 auto (452 coming soon) 70 FK5 Satellite 318 auto 71 FC7 Cuda 340 4 spd

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: 440gtx6] #486372 10/04/09 02:21 AM 10/04/09 02:21 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard
ScottSmith_Harms Mr Wizzard Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 42,714 Spokane Washington	Every environment is different so unless you do a lab test on your particular parts the reason the failed is just a gigantic guessing game. Being from the plastics industry (20+ years) and being VERY familiar with Urethanes as the company I worked for made all of the Urethane ski goggles for both Scott & Smith Goggle (my name is just a coincidence ) I can tell from personal experience having been involved with countless lab tests, that UV is the biggest enemy of Urethane, ozone, etc. are also problematic.

Re: Never Knew, old Urethane Bushings, Self-Destruct [Re: ScottSmith_Harms] #486373 10/04/09 07:07 AM 10/04/09 07:07 AM
Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 3,804 Arlington, Texas B bobby66 master
bobby66 master B Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 3,804 Arlington, Texas	We tried urethane roller coverings in the printing industry. It did not go well. Just sitting in a rack in a nice climated-controlled shop it would get soft and come apart. In a printing press at high speed the results were far more exciting. You could pinch a chunk off a roller and knead it like dough.

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